The Whole < The Sum of its Parts

Last week, I had the opportunity to sit in a brainstorming meeting at my workplace about a new business opportunity. Surrounded by many incredible minds – specialists in their respective fields, well experienced and well educated – we became mutually informed and discussed a lot of options. I asked what the institution’s overall strategic direction was on the issue, that we might pursue the options that are most in line with it. It took a while before I could make myself understood, and when I had, the response was forward and simple: There wasn’t one.

But, the more I paid attention, the more I realized that wasn’t quite the case. It wasn’t that there wasn’t an institutional directive or strategy on the subject and our options were unattached – it’s that we were the ones creating one.